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Title: Margaret Millar papers
Date: 1944-1994
Collection Number: MS-L002
Creator:
Millar, Margaret, 1915-1994
Extent:
8.8 linear feet
(26 boxes and 1 oversized folder)
Languages: The collection is primarily in English, with some materials in
German,
Swedish,
Dutch,
Japanese, and
Portuguese.
Repository:
University of California, Irvine. Library. Special Collections and Archives.
Irvine, California 92623-9557
Abstract: This collection comprises the papers of Margaret Millar, an acclaimed mystery writer. The collection includes manuscript and
typescript drafts and galley proofs of several of Millar's novels, including the award-winning
Beast in View and award-nominated
The Fiend and
Beyond This Point Are Monsters. The collection also includes short stories, plays, television scripts, and poems by Millar from the 1940s to the 1980s.
Important Information for Researchers
Researchers must receive prior written permission to use or make copies from the collection from the Trustees of the Margaret
Millar Charitable Remainder Unitrust. Please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives for more information.
Property rights reside with the University of California. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and
their heirs. For permissions to reproduce or to publish, please contact the Head of Special Collections and Archives.
Margaret Millar Papers. MS-L002. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Acquired in a series of donations and purchases beginning in 1966. The bulk of the archive was purchased in 1984 with funds
provided by the Friends of the UCI Libraries.
Processed by Archives staff in the 1980s; additions and revisions completed by Ernesto Bassi and Audrey Pearson, 2008.
Margaret Ellis Millar (née Sturm) was the author of many mystery novels, plays, television scripts, poems, and short stories.
Millar was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, on February 5, 1915. She studied psychiatry at the University of Toronto, but
left college after three years without completing her degree. In 1938 she married Kenneth Millar, with whom she lived in Santa
Barbara, California until his death in 1983. They had one daughter, Linda. Margaret Millar died on March 26, 1994, at age
79, in Santa Barbara, California.
Millar's novels have been published in several languages including French, Japanese, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Italian,
German, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, and Catalan. Her literary work has received ample recognition by literary critics,
reviewers, and peers. In 1956 she was awarded the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel, and in 1983 she received the Mystery
Writers of America's Grand Master Award.
Biography/Organization History
| 1915 February 5 | Born Margaret Ellis Sturm. |
| 1936 | Leaves University of Toronto. |
| 1938 | Marries Kenneth Millar, pseudonym Ross Macdonald. |
| 1941 | Publishes The Invisible Worm. |
| 1942 | Publishes The Weak-Eyed Bat. |
| Publishes The Devils Loves Me. | |
| 1943 | Publishes Wall of Eyes. |
| 1944 | Publishes Fire Will Freeze. |
| 1945 | Publishes The Iron Gates. |
| 1947 | Publishes Experiment in Springtime. |
| 1948 | Publishes It's All in the Family. |
| 1949 | Publishes The Cannibal Heart. |
| 1950 | Publishes Do Evil in Return. |
| 1952 | Publishes Vanish in an Instant. |
| Publishes Rose's Last Summer. | |
| 1954 | Publishes Wives and Lovers. |
| 1955 | Publishes Beast in View. |
| 1956 | Wins the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel for Beast in View. |
| 1957 | Publishes An Air That Kills. |
| 1957-1958 | Serves as president of Mystery Writers of America. |
| 1959 | Publishes The Listening Walls. |
| 1960 | Publishes A Stranger in My Grave. |
| 1962 | Publishes How Like an Angel. |
| 1964 | Publishes The Fiend. |
| 1965 | The Fiend nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. |
| Named Woman of the Year by Los Angeles Times. | |
| 1967 | Publishes The Birds and the Beasts Were There. |
| 1970 | Publishes Beyond This Point Are Monsters. |
| 1971 | Beyond This Point Are Monsters nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. |
| 1976 | Publishes Ask For Me Tomorrow. |
| 1979 | Publishes The Murder of Miranda. |
| 1982 | Publishes Mermaid. |
| 1983 | Publishes Banshee. |
| Receives Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award. | |
| 1983 July 11 | Kenneth Millar dies in Santa Barbara, California. |
| 1986 | Publishes Spider Webs. |
| 1994 March 26 | Margaret Millar dies in Santa Barbara, California. |
Warfel, Harry R.
American Novelists of Today. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1951.
Keating, H.R.F.
Crime & Mystery: The 100 Best Books. New York: Carroll & Graf, 1987.
"Margaret Millar." In
Mystery and Suspense Writers: The Literature of Crime, Detection, and Espionage, edited by Robin W. Winks. 2 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.
"Margaret (Ellis Sturm) Millar." In
Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 2003. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/LitRC?locID=ucirvine. (accessed May 13, 2008).
Collection Scope and Content Summary
This collection comprises the papers of Margaret Millar, an acclaimed mystery writer. The collection includes manuscript and
typescript drafts and galley proofs of several of Millar's novels, including the award-winning
Beast in View and nominated
The Fiend and
Beyond This Point Are Monsters. The collection also includes a considerable sample of short stories, plays, television scripts, and poems by Millar from
the 1940s to the 1980s. Also present are publication contracts, research notes, research files, and reviews.
This collection is arranged in 4 series.
- Series 1. Novels, 1956-1994. 5.8 linear feet.
- Series 2. Other writings, 1936-1963. 1.2 linear feet
- Series 3. Publication contracts, 1943-1978. 0.4 linear feet.
- Series 4. Research files, notes, and reviews, 1945-1994. 1.4 linear feet.
Related materials can be found in the following collection: Kenneth Millar Papers. MS-L001. Special Collections and Archives,
The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Millar, Margaret, 1915-1994 -- Archives.
American fiction -- 20th century -- Archives.
Suspense fiction -- 20th century -- Archives.
Authors